Porsche or London?

[sperry]

Well, some of my friends are going to London for new years, since it's the tourist off season and flights are <$500 round trip. I was thinking of going.

However, I also just found a '74 Porsche 914 (2.0L Fuel Injected!) that would cost about the same as the trip....

Or I could throw that money at the WRX so I'll have a chance against Matt's STi next season.

Oh, and there's those damned credit cards I still owe on...

So, what's the best way to spend my money?

[MikeSTI]

Get out of debet is the best thing to do. Think of all that intrest you could then save for mods

[MattR]

Originally Posted by sperry

Or I could throw that money at the WRX so I'll have a chance against Matt's STi next season.

All the money in the world won't help you there ...j/k


Dude, I would pay off debts...I'm just conservative I guess...

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Screw London, go fast4r or pay debts.

We should get people from the group together and party down at New Year's in Tahoe or something.

[sperry]

No votes for the porsche?

[dknv]

Originally Posted by sperry

No votes for the porsche?

here's what I'd do: pay off debt (interest is just another way to put a hole in your pocket), find an investor to buy & hold the porsche (for you or someone else); or find a co-investor for the porsche, and tell your friends to take alot of cool pictures in london.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by sperry

No votes for the porsche?

Pay off the credit cards... idiot.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by dknv

here's what I'd do: pay off debt (interest is just another way to put a hole in your pocket), find an investor to buy & hold the porsche (for you or someone else); or find a co-investor for the porsche, and tell your friends to take alot of cool pictures in london.

Actually my credit cards are all really low fixed rates, so carrying a balance only hurts me about $30/mo... not too bad.

Plus this porsche is one of the best years/motors! If it's not rusted to hell, it's really a good find.

So, uh, don't hate me if I don't follow your advise.

[sybir]

Pity vote for the porsche, but you know my story, man

[ArthurS]

I said pay off credit cards, but in light off your decent plan you have going on them....I say Porsche!

[BOO]

Originally Posted by ArthurS

I said pay off credit cards, but in light off your decent plan you have going on them....I say Porsche!

How much is the porsche again ? where is it located?
Whats the guys number??

[sperry]

Originally Posted by BOO

How much is the porsche again ? where is it located?
Whats the guys number??

Evil!!!

The guy's asking $2200. I talked to him on the phone tonight. He says the car has no rust, which is friggen hard to believe. If it's true, and it's really rust free, and the motor/tranny seem strong, I'll prolly buy it. But I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

[pbaldy]

Years ago I autocrossed a '74 914 1.8 extensively in Northern California Porsche Club events, and did very well with it. Ran several times in an annual challenge against the Corvette club, and won more than I lost. You can't imagine how much fun it is to see the look on a guy's face after he climbs out of his big, loud, V8 and realizes that the little car with the little motor whipped him. With some suspension work, that car will fly around corners. You'd have a lot of fun with that car.

[tysonK]

credit cards are the devil.

[MattR]

My second vote is for the Porsche.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by pbaldy

Years ago I autocrossed a '74 914 1.8 extensively in Northern California Porsche Club events, and did very well with it. Ran several times in an annual challenge against the Corvette club, and won more than I lost. You can't imagine how much fun it is to see the look on a guy's face after he climbs out of his big, loud, V8 and realizes that the little car with the little motor whipped him. With some suspension work, that car will fly around corners. You'd have a lot of fun with that car.

Awesome! That's the idea, right there.

It's very miata-esque as far as autocross goes... i.e. it can dominate through handling alone... however I don't fit in a miata.

Since you've raced these things before, any tips on what I should pay attention to on a test drive? Any thing I should try with the shifter, sounds I should listen for, places to check for oil leaks? I know all about doing a thorough rust check.

[tysonK]

i think if evan was here he'd make a JIC vote.

[pbaldy]

Oh crap, you're trying to access 15+ year old memories, since I sold it in like '84 or '85 (let's see, do I keep the kids or the "fun" car?).

As to fitting in it, I'm 6'1" and it I didn't have to put the seat all the way back, so it's fairly roomy.

As I recall, the shifters are naturally a little "sloppy", so I wouldn't be too worried if it seems a little loose. It shouldn't be hard to find the correct gear as you up/downshift though. There shouldn't be any grinding (as you already know, I'm sure).

I don't remember any real problem areas, leak-wise. Check the boots on the transaxles. I remember having to replace them and repack the CV joints a couple of times. Now that you've brought it up, I may start remembering things, so I'll post back with anything I can think of. Since I've been out of it for a while, I'd wonder about parts availability on cars that have been out of production for so long, but perhaps since there's still a lot of them around, it's not a problem.

You may find some info here. This is the club I belonged to, but of course they didn't have the website back then:

http://www.pca.org/tech/tech_qa_area.asp?id=6

[sperry]

Originally Posted by pbaldy

Oh crap, you're trying to access 15+ year old memories, since I sold it in like '84 or '85 (let's see, do I keep the kids or the "fun" car?).

As to fitting in it, I'm 6'1" and it I didn't have to put the seat all the way back, so it's fairly roomy.

As I recall, the shifters are naturally a little "sloppy", so I wouldn't be too worried if it seems a little loose. It shouldn't be hard to find the correct gear as you up/downshift though. There shouldn't be any grinding (as you already know, I'm sure).

I don't remember any real problem areas, leak-wise. Check the boots on the transaxles. I remember having to replace them and repack the CV joints a couple of times. Now that you've brought it up, I may start remembering things, so I'll post back with anything I can think of. Since I've been out of it for a while, I'd wonder about parts availability on cars that have been out of production for so long, but perhaps since there's still a lot of them around, it's not a problem.

You may find some info here. This is the club I belonged to, but of course they didn't have the website back then:

http://www.pca.org/tech/tech_qa_area.asp?id=6

Sweet man, thanks for the info. One of the reasons I wanted a 914 so bad is that they are know for their interoir room, considering the small size of the car. I should fit fine, especially once I get a racing shell in there.

I read that on a lot of 914's it's normal to grind a little going into 1st... it's usually not a big deal since a lot of the shifter linkage parts are plastic, they tend to wear quickly. There are brass replacement parts out there to fix that for good. It's when the car grinds into second that there might be an issue... usually it's the clutch going... 'cept the car I'm looking at had it's clutch replaced profesionally within the last 5 years, or so I'm told.

Once I get the car, I may have to bring it to a meet and require you to show up so I might jog your memory and pick your brain. Right now all I got going for me is what I can read on the web, and whatever crossover there is between Subaru EJ20's and the 914 motor... which isn't much more than "they're both boxer 4's".

Which reminds me, anyone know of a Sacramento area mechanic that might be willing to check out the 914 this weekend? I figure I'll take a look at the car, and get some pictures on Wednesday, then post 'em from my parent's house so I can get you guys to help me decide if the car's mechanically sound. Then I'll make the decision on Friday or Saturday. It'd be nice to get a compression test and have a Porsche mechanic take a look at the car to see if it's got any common issues I should be aware of.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by pbaldy

Years ago I autocrossed a '74 914 1.8 extensively in Northern California Porsche Club events, and did very well with it. Ran several times in an annual challenge against the Corvette club, and won more than I lost. You can't imagine how much fun it is to see the look on a guy's face after he climbs out of his big, loud, V8 and realizes that the little car with the little motor whipped him. With some suspension work, that car will fly around corners. You'd have a lot of fun with that car.

I am the guy with the big, loud V8, and I get whipped by little cars with little motors all the time.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by AtomicLabMonkey

I am the guy with the big, loud V8, and I get whipped by little cars with little motors all the time.

It's just physics! A light car simply turns faster, and autocross is all turning, therefore, a light car is teh fastAr. 'Course, I will evntually want to drop a Suby motor in the porsche and make 300+ hp... but only if I can do it w/o making the car too heavy.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Which is the reason I'm gonna strip all the weight I can out of it this winter... it won't be a very comfortable daily driver (hell, it's already not very comfortable), but it'll be teh fast4r!

[pbaldy]

Originally Posted by AtomicLabMonkey

I am the guy with the big, loud V8, and I get whipped by little cars with little motors all the time.

But you seem like a cool guy. Those Vette guys were so full of themselves it just added to the enjoyment of beating them.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by pbaldy

But you seem like a cool guy. Those Vette guys were so full of themselves it just added to the enjoyment of beating them.

Something about Vette owners, the dicks seem to outnumber the cool guys. I guess lots of people buy Vettes to compensate for their "ineptitudes", and have attitude problems. 'Cept for classic Vettes, all the classic Vette owners I've met are teh cool.

[pbaldy]

Originally Posted by sperry

Which reminds me, anyone know of a Sacramento area mechanic that might be willing to check out the 914 this weekend? I figure I'll take a look at the car, and get some pictures on Wednesday, then post 'em from my parent's house so I can get you guys to help me decide if the car's mechanically sound. Then I'll make the decision on Friday or Saturday. It'd be nice to get a compression test and have a Porsche mechanic take a look at the car to see if it's got any common issues I should be aware of.

When I owned mine I actually lived in Sacramento. There was an excellent shop named "Autosport Technology" on Broadway. It was run at the time by a guy named Dwight Mitchell, who had a great reputation among Porsche Club members. I just snooped around and found that the shop still exists, now named IPB Autosport. They still advertise with the local Porsche club, so they may still be a good shop. 916-453-1465.

Some other thoughts: This is the local club I used to belong to. You may find some info on their site or contacts in the area. They were always very friendly and helpful people. I wouldn't hesitate to call a couple of the officers and explain your situation. I'm going to snoop around the site myself. There are probably still people there I'd know:

http://www.derporsche.net/

The bay area chapter of the same club has a recommended mechanics page. Among others, it mentions the shop above:

http://www.pca-ggr.org/localmechanics.html

And now I must get back to work!